"I even considered trying to follow Tadej" - Remco Evenepoel dropped, but ends up dropping Jonas Vingegaard
Cycling
In the results sheet, Remco Evenepoel can certainly argue that he's had his best day so far at the Tour de France. On the road it was a brutal one, where he struggled, but with time gain in the end to Jonas Vingegaard and his direct rivals.
The best Evenepoel so far this Tour?
Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe knew they had a difficult day on the Massif Central awaiting them, with Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz teaming up on a more explosive finale than that of stage 6 in the Pyrenees. The team as a collective didn't have much support for their leaders in the finale, but that wasn't necessary in the backdrop of UAE Team Emirates - XRG's work.
On the Col de Pertus, Tadej Pogacar launched his attack. Evenepoel was in the chasing group following Jonas Vingegaard. But everyone was on the limit. "There was a lot of pain going through my head, so there was not much room for thinking," Evenepoel said in a post-race interview. "I just kept pushing and that was the right choice. I struggled for two or three minutes, but in the end I still finished second."
On the final categorized climb of the day, he started off in front, aiming to still catch Tadej Pogacar. "There were some accelerations and annoying changes of pace. That was difficult, especially because I had just moved to the front. We wanted to ride as hard as possible to bring Tadej back, but I think he still had something left for the final three kilometres."
He was hampered by cramps. The last climb of the day was certainly a difficult moment on a day where he overall felt quite well. "On the hardest climb I was still near the front and for a moment I even considered trying to follow Tadej. Uphill, I certainly do not think I am any worse than I used to be."
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Evenepoel hopes for criticism to stop in Belgium
On the Col de Font de Cère, Evenepoel wanted an ideal cooperation in the group, but once again he did not have it. "We did not get much help from those Lidl-Trek riders again," he pointed out. However, the mood was not the same as in stage where he lashed out on his teammate Florian Lipowitz.
Evenepoel was dropped due to the danger of cramps, but it was not a moment of body weakness. "Maybe I should have pushed through to stay in the wheel because I remained at roughly the same distance for quite a while," he said. On the descent the Belgian regained his place in the group, and the best of the day was yet to come.
With Jonas Vingegaard dropping and Florian Lipowitz leading, Evenepoel found the perfect scenario, sprinting to a second place that looked tremendously strong. "I saved some energy by sitting at the back and then went with 250 metres to go. I remembered the sprint from last year (correction: two years ago, ed.) and knew it was better to start early if I wanted to create a gap. That worked."
At the line, 12 seconds on the road and 6 in bonifications to gain on the struggling Vingegaard, but also a few to several other direct rivals.
"I hope we do not get the typically Belgian reaction of only looking for the negative," Evenepoel stated, at the end of a performance that left him in third place when it comes to the overall classification. We should mainly be positive after today. I feel that I recover quite easily from hard efforts."
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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